Will Pope follow Benedict and resign?
A ROSARY in his hands and clad in red vestments with a gold-edged mitre, this is the first picture of the late Pope Benedict XVI.
The official photograph shows his body in the chapel of a monastery in the Vatican grounds where he spent the last decade of his life.
It was released as Pope Francis, looking frail and weary in a wheelchair, paid tribute to his 95-year-old predecessor at a mass yesterday. Francis, who succeeded Benedict in 2013 when he became the first pope in six centuries to resign, said: ‘Today we entrust the beloved pope emeritus Benedict XVI to the most holy mother [the Virgin Mary], to accompany him in his passage from this world to God.’
At a later service for thousands gathered in St Peter’s Square, the 86-year-old current pontiff added: ‘Let us all join together, with one heart and one soul, in thanking God for the gift of this faithful servant of the Gospel and of the Church.’
The death of Benedict, a strict German theologian once nicknamed God’s Rottweiler, will fuel speculation that Francis may follow his example and step down if he becomes unable to carry out his duties.
Saturday’s death brought to an end an unprecedented situation in which two popes had co-existed in the Vatican.
Benedict had dropped from public view, but his occasional statements were closely followed by Roman Catholic conservatives who dislike the more liberal Francis.
His body will be moved this morning to St Peter’s before a funeral on Thursday overseen by Francis. The last papal funeral, of John Paul II in 2005, drew a million faithful and heads of state from around the world. Benedict was a more divisive figure. The theologian alienated many with his defence of traditional Catholic teaching on abortion, euthanasia and gay marriage, and as pope he saw the Church battle a string of crises, including over clerical sex abuse.